Bits And Bytes (week of 9/25)

Comments

1. Too many of them take away from usability, and detract from ease of use across devices.

2. There are usually no way to disable customizations a user doesn't want/use.

The first one, is more a problem for the ecosystem. If the UI isn't standardized, using a new device by a new manufacturer incurs some degree of ramp up. If I go from TouchWiz to a stock experience, the time I have invested memorizing the TouchWiz experience doesn't transfer to my new device. You could see that as a way to lock people into a single interface, but the more I use Android, the more I dislike this. It also makes it difficult to help someone with a different skin if the settings menu is different, for instance.

My other gripe is not being able to turn off some of the customizations I don't use that could be a nuisance. The notification bell is a good example for some. As I've used it, i see the utility, but for some, it's just unacceptable, and there is no way to disable it, and it is a constant reminder as you see it every time you unlock your phone. I'll never use the DTTW function, but I can see how others might. I would hate it if I was somehow expected to use it all of the time.

I find myself liking slightly modified. I have used Samsung touchwiz, htc sense 6 and 7 and stock on a nexus.

Touchwiz is just unnecessary with all the inferior duplication of Google apps. Also so much animation and used resources just slow down the phone.

Htc had really paired down Sense with ver. 6 & 7. They added a few customizations that is helpful like the "clear all" button on the multitasking page and the ability to edit and hide the quick toggles on the notification pull-down menu.

With mifavor, I find it light as far as customization goes but for the most part, it is unnecessary and half-baked at best. I actually enjoy the mi-pop. It comes in handy at night when the capacitive buttons can't be seen. The "clear all" button is useful to kill unused apps. I like the gallery and the toolkit apps.

Customizations like those are welcomed. They add features to enhance the user experience without wasting time and resources.

What is unnecessary about mi-favor is the notification bell, it turns people off. The unnecessary customization of the quick toggles, which can't be edited and/or hidden. Google already provides working quick toggles which can be edited and hidden. Duplicating Google apps is unnecessary.

The mi-favor launcher is disgustingly executed visually and in usability. Stick with Google's default launcher. There are plenty of launchers to download. Again, don't waste your time and resources unnecessarily duplicating things that already work. Google did it for you, leave the burden on them.

I picked pure, was going to pick slightly modified but I feel like that could mean anything, from looks to apps to the way it performs. Too many gray areas ,I'd love a true stock option when the phone is set up, you could decide then what your experience will be.

What I mean though is that it is mostly as stock as it can be. No extras like the fitness apps, Yahoo, Rewards, well OK Rewards maybe. Lol! but you get my point. our constant complaint is bloat and inability to have an unlocked bootloader to change ROMs. The biggest issue is adaptability for those who are more advanced in use of the device and yet keeping it functional and slightly adaptable for those who are not as advanced. That is the balancing point for any company creating mobile devices.

Moderately: I've been a loyal fan of Android since I came over from BB and of HTC in particular since my EVO 3D. With that said, I have an inclination to really like the whole Sense feel. With my Axon 7 I've found that the closest to that thay I can get it is by running Nova.

Welcome ​! I also had the Evo 3D, was my first "real" smartphone. Welcome to the community and hopefully your Axon 7 will treat you well. I also run Nova on my A7 as do many of the others in the forum. It's a solid choice!

Thank you so much! Yea, I find the ability to hide apps I'm not using and having just 1 page in the drawer makes everything accessible. So far it's been great, haven't run into any issues I see some people are having. It's also so good looking, it makes people ask what phone it is. I usually don't go into depth about ZTE or specs because most are iPhone users and they won't understand. (nothing against them, it's just if they have an iPhone to begin with, it's hard to explain the allure of an Android)

Awesome! Yea, after the M8 I said to myself, I can't justify spending over $500 for another new phone, and basically they're all made over seas anyway (mainly China) I wanted to give a lesser known brand to US consumers a chance and since ZTE has been in business for over 30 years and the specs on the Axon 7 were pretty amazing under $400 (I got mine at NewEgg, no tax, free shipping, and with a free set of headphones!) I figured I'd try it out. Not to mention I spent weeks doing research online reading reviews for the Axon as well as the P9, OP3, and other phones in the same range.

Oh wow. I didn't get to make any adjustments to it other than the ROM. The cameras are pretty great on the HTC flagships but I just don't take enough photos to get a phone that is going to take near professional shots and pay a ton of money for. The Axon's photo quality is great and the price along with the specs is very competitive when put against Apple or Samsung.

Love stock android but the battery saving functionality seems pretty solid over the stock features built into marshmallow. I like things like this but I prefer the same layout/looks without a ton of bloat.

The best option, of course, is to allow us to choose what we want: ZTE's tweaked ROM or the stock Google ROM (or even some other custom ROM).

I am not a hardware person so I don't know if this is actually possible given that each manufacturer wants to design some brand-specific differences into their phones to make them unique. But in the overall scheme of things the major benefit of Android devices over Apple devices is that Android, being an open system, allows the end user to do whatever he/she wants.

In the PC world I think the reason Windows has such a large market penetration compared to Mac is simply that Windows is an open system that allows users to pick from a wide variety of software (and hardware) options. Mac users simply don't have that option. I see no reason why that same concept would not apply to cellphones.

PS: Thanks to ZTE for showing so much interest in end-user opinions. It is refreshing indeed to find a manufacturer who actually wants to listen to real people.

I chose slightly modified because Id rather have more customization. I saw some people discussing MiFavor, so Ill chime in on that. Personally, I like it a lot better than stock Android. The look and feel just seems better to me. Back to the customization, I think we need to be able to have the options but also be able to shut everything off need be.